If you had to exist for a week in one of your books … which would it be? Would you be a central character or simply watch the story unfold from the sidelines?

Siobhan: I’d go back to the post-war Hong Kong of The Orchid Tree. It was a magical time in the ex-colony. I’d be a friend to Kate, my heroine, and support her in her struggle to be with the man she loves.

Dead or alive literary dinner party: who would you invite, and what would you serve?